Fort George, Bermuda

Last updated

Fort George
Mount Hill, St. George's Island, St. George's Parish, Bermuda
St George's Town and St George's Garrison , Bermuda OS Map Lieut AJ Savage 1901.jpg
St. George's Garrison (and St. George's Town) as surveyed by Lieutenant Arthur Johnson Savage, RE, in 1897-1899. Fort George is shown at left.
Bermuda location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Fort George
Coordinates 32°22′49″N64°40′57″W / 32.380316°N 64.682443°W / 32.380316; -64.682443
Type Fort
Coastal artillery
Site information
Owner Board of Ordnance
War Office<Government of Bermuda>
OperatorFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Open to
the public
Yes (except Keep)
ConditionAs last used as a fort, except a marine radio and radar station added atop the keep
Site history
Built1850s
Built for Royal Artillery
In use1850s - 1957
MaterialsStone
Garrison information
GarrisonEastern District of the Bermuda Garrison
Occupants Royal Artillery
Royal Engineers
Harbour Radio

Fort George is a square fort built on the crest of Mount Hill (or Riche's Mount) to the west of St. George's Town, near to, but outside of the boundaries of the original main British Army camp in the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda, St. George's Garrison. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

History

Fort George was one of a number of new forts (most built on the sites of earlier forts) housing coastal artillery built in the early and mid-Nineteenth Century within or satellite to St. George's Garrison. The heaviest concentration of coastal artillery batteries and fortifications in Bermuda had, and would continue to be, at the East End of the archipelago of Bermuda, where St. George's Harbour and Castle Harbour (with its own history of fortification) were the only harbours easily accessible from the open Atlantic due to the reefline surrounding Bermuda. After the American War of Independence, Bermuda had been selected as the only remaining British territory between Nova Scotia and the British West Indies, being also in a position (640 miles off North Carolina) from which to dominate the Atlantic seaboard of the new United States of America. The Royal Navy spent a dozen years surveying the reef, identifying a channel (originally called Hurd's Channel after then-Lieutenant Thomas Hannaford Hurd, the officer who had located it, but now referred to as The Narrows) suitable for ships-of-the-line to enter the Northern Lagoon, the Great Sound, and Hamilton Harbour before establishing a base at Bermuda in 1795. Although the Admiralty began buying and leasing land at Bermuda's West End, on the Great Sound, for the eventual construction of the Royal Naval Dockyard, the lack of development and infrastructure there meant the Navy used St. George's as its base pending the construction of the dockyard on Ireland Island.

Hurd's Channel led from Five Fathom Hole, the opening in the reefline through which vessels previously had already passed into the original main eastern channel (between Paget Island and Governor's Island, both of which held fortified coastal batteries from the early Seventeenth Centuries) into St. George's Harbour, around St. Catherine's Point at the north-eastern end of St. George's Island. [5] A succession of forts named Fort St. Catherine's have existed on this point since 1612, and the fifth and last of these was built in the Nineteenth Century. On Retreat Hill to its rear, Fort Victoria and Fort Albert were built in the 1840s. Between them, the three guarded Hurd's Channel and the Northern Lagoon from navigation by an enemy.

John Smith's 1624 map of Bermudian forts, with Rich's Mount at right (P) John Smith 1624 map of Bermuda with Forts 01.jpg
John Smith's 1624 map of Bermudian forts, with Rich's Mount at right (P)

To the rear of these three forts, a pair of identical forts were built in the 1650s on hilltops on either side of St. George's Town: Fort George was built at Mount Hill, on the western side of the town (the site of a succession of earlier defence works, beginning with a watchtower in 1612, rebuilt with the addition of a signal gun in 1619, to which the name Riche's Mount (or Rich's Mount) was originally applied). The first proper fort was built on the site in the 1790s, but this was replaced with the current fort; the Western Redoubt (originally intended to be named ‘’Fort William’’) was built on another hilltop on the northern side of the town, between Government Hill (from which Government House had moved to Mount Langton in Pembroke Parish with the move of the Parliament of Bermuda and the colonial capital from St. George's Town to the then Town of Hamilton in 1815) and Barrack Hill, the site of the Royal Barracks of St. George's Garrison.

Fort George overlooks Ordnance Island and St. George's Town Ordnance Island, St. George's Town, and Fort George, Bermuda.jpg
Fort George overlooks Ordnance Island and St. George's Town

Fort George and the Western Redoubt both overlook the harbour to the south, and to a greater or lesser degree the Northern Lagoon to the north of the island (the area of enclosed water immediately to the north of St. George's Island is called Murray's Anchorage, and had been the anchorage for the naval squadron of the North America Station when the naval base was at St. George's). The two forts therefore could operate also against enemy vessels entering the Northern Lagoon, but were primarily intended to fire on an enemy that entered the harbour and to provide rear defence to the forts on Retreat Hill and St. Catherine's Point. [6]

The southern RML 11 inch 25 ton gun at Fort George. RML 11 inch 25 ton gun at Fort George in Bermuda.jpg
The southern RML 11 inch 25 ton gun at Fort George.

Fort George was completed and armed, and later re-armed with more modern weapons, while Fort William was completed but never armed as it was deemed by then to be excess to need. Instead, named the Western Redoubt, it was converted into a magazine, which would have been subsidiary to the Ordnance depot on Ordnance Island.

Fort George was not one of those re-armed with modern muzzle loading rifles at the end of the Nineteenth Century. During the First World War, the it was used by the Pilot Service and the Royal Naval Examination Service, who operated a steamer from the harbour to meet arriving ships at Five Fathom Hole for inspection, before piloting them to harbour. Most of the coastal artillery batteries in Bermuda, excepting St. David's Battery, were either obsolete or reduced to a care and maintenance state that was not ready for war during post-First World War cutbacks to the British Army. [7] [8]

In 1957, a later phase of cutbacks resulted in the closure of the Bermuda Garrison, with all regular units and detachments, including the Command staff, withdrawn, leaving only the part-time Bermuda Militia Artillery and Bermuda Rifles. The dockyard was re-rated as a base, losing its ability to repair or refit its vessels, and this was to close in 1995. All Admiralty and War Office, including St. George's Garrison, land was transferred to the colonial government in 1958.

Today, all of the East End fortifications and batteries are parts of the UNESCO World Heritage Site the Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications), though not all are open to the public. [9]

St. George's Harbour, as seen from Fort George St George's Harbour - Bermuda composite.jpg
St. George's Harbour, as seen from Fort George

Design and armament

The fort is square shaped, and the gunfloor originally had emplacements for four guns, one on each side behind an earthwork glacis. Inside of these was a higher keep, separated from the gunfloor by a dry moat, with a drawbridge. The original armament was four 64-Pounders on the gun floor, and four 24-Pounders atop the keep. In the 1680s, this was replaced with two RML 11 inch 25 ton gun (one facing the harbour and the other towards Murray's Anchorage) and two RML 64-pounder 58 cwt guns facing east and west, of which only the first pair remain, both on their original mounts. [10] A Signal Station was also placed at the fort, with Semaphore signal mast. Others were placed at Mount Wyndham (Admiralty House), Mount Langton (Government House), Gibb's Hill Lighthouse, and the Royal Naval Dockyard. These provided a visual telegraph linking the various naval and military facilities and Government House until the introduction of an electric telegraph network in the 1860s, and were also used to communicate to vessels in visual range on the water. The signal mast no longer survives, though the one at Gibb's Hill Lighthouse does. The civil government built a wireless and radar station on top of the keep, utilised by Bermuda Harbour Radio and the Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military of Bermuda</span>

While the defence of Bermuda remains the responsibility of the government of the United Kingdom, rather than of the local Bermudian Government, the island still maintains a militia for the purpose of defence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Harbour, Bermuda</span>

Castle Harbour is a large natural harbour in Bermuda. It is located between the northeastern end of the main island and St. David's Island. Originally called Southampton Port, it was renamed as a result of its heavy fortification in the early decades of the Seventeenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. George's Harbour, Bermuda</span>

St. George's Harbour is a natural harbour in the north of Bermuda. It serves as the port for the town of St. George's, located on St. George's Island, to its north. To its south is St. David's Island. The harbour and both islands lie within St. George's Parish. It was for two centuries the primary harbour of the British Overseas Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site</span> Fort near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site is a 19th-century coastal artillery fort on the Colwood side of Esquimalt Harbour,. The site is adjacent to Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site, the first lighthouse on the west coast of Canada. Both the fort and lighthouse are managed and presented to the public by Parks Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warwick Camp (Bermuda)</span>

'Warwick Camp' was originally the rifle ranges and a training area used by units of the Bermuda Garrison based elsewhere in the colony. Today, the Camp is the home of the Royal Bermuda Regiment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BL 6-inch Mk VII naval gun</span> Naval and Heavy Field Gun

The BL 6-inch gun Mark VII was a British naval gun dating from 1899, which was mounted on a heavy travelling carriage in 1915 for British Army service to become one of the main heavy field guns in the First World War, and also served as one of the main coast defence guns throughout the British Empire until the 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Islands Fortifications, Bermuda</span> Historic site in Castle Harbour, Bermuda

Several of the islands strung across the South entrance of Castle Harbour, Bermuda were fortified in the early days of the territory, hence the harbour's name. When official settlement of the archipelago by England began in 1612 the first permanent town, St. George's was placed on the North side of St. George's Harbour. St. George's Harbour could be accessed directly by channels from the East. Those channels, however, were shallow, suitable, originally, only for small ships. As a consequence, and despite any major settlement on its shores, Castle Harbour was an important anchorage in the early years of the colony, with its main entrance, Castle Roads being an important route in from the open Atlantic for shipping. It was also a weak point, as it was remote from the defences of St. George's Harbour, and difficult to reach. It was quickly fortified and garrisoned by a standing militia.

Vice Admiral George Murray was a Royal Navy officer and politician. He was the third son of the Jacobite general Lord George Murray.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bermuda Garrison</span> British military post

The Bermuda Garrison was the military establishment maintained on the British Overseas Territory and Imperial fortress of Bermuda by the regular British Army and its local militia and voluntary reserves from 1701 to 1957. The garrison evolved from an independent company, to a company of Royal Garrison Battalion during the American War of Independence, and a steadily growing and diversifying force of artillery and infantry with various supporting corps from the French Revolution onwards. During the American War of Independence, the garrison in Bermuda fell under the military Commander-in-Chief of America. Subsequently, it was part of the Nova Scotia Command until 1868, and was an independent Bermuda Command from then until its closure in 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prospect Camp, Bermuda</span> Military installation manned by the Royal Garrison Artillery

Prospect Camp, also referred to as Prospect Garrison, was the main infantry camp of the Bermuda Garrison, the military force stationed in the Imperial fortress of Bermuda. It also contained Fort Prospect, Fort Langton, and Fort Hamilton, as well as being the base for mobile artillery batteries, manned by the Royal Artillery. Outlying parts of the camp were disposed of in the early decades of the Twentieth Century as the garrison in Bermuda was reduced. The core area, including the barracks, passed to the local government when the garrison was withdrawn in 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort St. Catherine</span> Historic site in St. Georges Island, Bermuda

Fort St. Catherine, or Fort St. Catherine's, is a coastal artillery fort at the North-East tip of St. George's Island, in the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda. Successively redeveloped, the fort was used first by Bermudian Militia and then by regular Royal Artillery units from 1612 into the 20th century. Today it houses a museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site in British Overseas Territories, United Kingdom

The Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications is the name used by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee to identify collectively as a World Heritage Site St. George's Town, founded in 1612, and a range of fortifications, batteries, and magazines built between 1612 and 1939, the last of which was removed from use in 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St David's Battery</span>

St. David's Battery, also known during wartime as the "Examination Battery", was a fixed battery of rifled breech-loader (RBL) artillery guns, built and manned by the Royal Garrison Artillery and the Royal Engineers, and their part-time reserves, the Bermuda Militia Artillery and the Bermuda Volunteer Engineers, part of the Bermuda Garrison of the British Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Redoubt</span>

The Western Redoubt, or Fort William, is a square fort built on a crest on the eastern side of Government Hill, and within the boundaries of the original main British Army camp in the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda, St. George's Garrison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Victoria, Bermuda</span> Historic site in St. Georges Island, Bermuda

Fort Victoria is a disused British Army fort, built to house coastal artillery atop Retreat Hill, within St. George's Garrison, at the North-East of St. George's Island, in the British colony of Bermuda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fortifications of Plymouth</span>

The fortifications of Plymouth in Devon are extensive due to its natural harbour, its commanding position on the Western Approaches and its role as the United Kingdom's largest naval base. The first medieval defences were built to defend Sutton Harbour on the eastern side of Plymouth Sound at the mouth of the River Plym, but by the 18th century, naval activity had begun to shift westward to Devonport at the mouth of the River Tamar. During the Victorian era, advances in military technology led to a huge programme of fortification encompassing the whole of Plymouth Sound together with the overland approaches. Many of these works remained in military use well into the 20th century.

HMS <i>Castle Harbour</i>

HMS Castle Harbour was a civilian harbour vessel of 730 tons that was taken-up from trade (TUFT) during the Second World War by the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda for use by the Royal Naval Examination Service and later armed and commissioned as a warship, providing harbour defence from submarines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. George's Garrison, Bermuda</span> British military post

St. George's Garrison was the first permanent military camp of the Bermuda Garrison established in the British colony and Imperial fortress of Bermuda, with construction of Old Military Road and the original Royal Barracks commencing during the war between Britain and France that followed the French Revolution. It would remain in use until 1957, when it was transferred to the civil (colonial) government with most of the other Admiralty and War Office properties in Bermuda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imperial fortress</span> One of four key British colonial military outposts

Imperial fortress was the designation given in the British Empire to four colonies that were located in strategic positions from each of which Royal Navy squadrons could control the surrounding regions and, between them, much of the planet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scaur Hill Fort, Bermuda</span>

Scaur Hill Fort, also called Scaur Hill Lines and Somerset Lines, is a fortified position erected in the 1870s at Scaur Hill, on Somerset Island, in Sandys Parish, the westernmost parish of the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda.

References

  1. Dawson, George M.; Sutherland, Alexander (1898). MacMillan's Geographical Series: Elementary Geography of the British Colonies. London: MacMillan and Co. p. 184. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  2. Meteorological Observations at the Foreign and Colonial Stations of the Royal Engineers and the Army Medical Department 1852—1886. London: Published by the authority of the Meteorological Council. 1890. OCLC   969517066 . Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  3. Kennedy, R.N., Captain W. R. (1 July 1885). "An Unknown Colony: Sport, Travel and Adventure in Newfoundland and the West Indies". Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons. p. 111. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  4. Verax (1 May 1889). "The Defense of Canada. (From Colburn's United Service Magazine)". The United Service: A Quarterly Review of Military and Naval Affairs. Philadelphia: LR Hamersly & Co. p. 552. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  5. Stranack, Royal Navy, Lieutenant-Commander B. Ian D (1977). The Andrew and The Onions: The Story of The Royal Navy in Bermuda, 1795–1975. Bermuda: Island Press Ltd., Bermuda, 1977 (1st Edition); Bermuda Maritime Museum Press, Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda, Ireland Island, Sandys, Bermuda, 1990 (2nd Edition). ISBN   9780921560036.
  6. Willock USMC, Lieutenant-Colonel Roger (23 November 1988). Bulwark Of Empire: Bermuda's Fortified Naval Base 1860–1920. Bermuda: The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press. ISBN   9780921560005.
  7. Maurice-Jones DSO RA, Colonel KW (1959). History of The Coast Artillery in the British Army. UK: Royal Artillery Institution.
  8. Ingham-Hind, Jennifer M. (23 November 1992). Defence, Not Defiance: A History Of The Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps. Bermuda: The Island Press. ISBN   0969651716.
  9. "Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda". Unesco. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  10. Harris, Edward C. (23 November 1997). Bermuda Forts 1612–1957. Bermuda: The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press. ISBN   9780921560111.
  11. "About Maritime Operations Centre". www.rccbermuda.bm. Department of Marine & Ports Services of the Government of Bermuda. Retrieved 23 August 2021.